According to the Australian newspaper, The Age, Australian women in their late 40s and 50s are travelling to Greece and Spain in order to get pregnant.
They choose Greece as they pay 7,600 dollars for a donated egg and in vitro fertilisation (IVF) procedure, one-third of the price a similar procedure costs in Australia, where they can’t receive donated eggs that cannot be traced.
Denyse Asher, an Australian reproductive scientist, reported that last year more than 90 couples and single women travelled to Greece, Spain and South Africa for donations. However, many specialists claim that the unknown identity of donors could cause ethical and medical problems. Australian women must find a donor known to them and pay all medical expenses but are not allowed to buy eggs. But in recession-hit Greece, young women are paid 1,000 euros per donated ovum, a price many cannot afford to refuse.
Nikos Kanakas, director of Embryoland in Athens, said that the number of Australian women travelling to Greece for an egg donation has increased during the past five years. ”We have many happy families in Australia who have come to our clinic for egg donation,” Kanakas told the newspaper. He added that, under Greek law, IVF is allowed until the age of 50, although he estimates many women disguise their age to receive treatment.
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